The invention relates to a garment to be worn by the user for clothing protection and to provide an animal mount. More particularly, this invention relates to a short, very colorful vest-like garment with removable and adjustable wood dowels attached to the apex of one or both shoulders by ties. The dowels form perches for pet birds to be carried thereon with the ties also used to attach a plurality of different sized dowels and toys for entertainment. This garment will can used to protect the clothing of the person and to show off and train small to medium-sized birds and provide perches onto which the bird can grasp while riding on the owner""s shoulder.
Individuals who have birds for pets often relate closely to them and like to show them off and train them out of their cages; many go so far as to take the birds on walks to the park or to the beach. Carrying small to medium-sized birds on the shoulder is the most natural place for them. In training, young birds are comfortable around the head of a person as opposed to their hands, because the hands move too quickly and scare the young birds. Birds also relate to bright colors and toys, especially if it is an individual bird without a mate. Birds have a great curiosity and tend to bite and pick on anything loose or colorful around them. It is not uncommon in the case where a person cares for a bird to have the cage filled with mirrors, bells and all forms of toys. In this close relationship with people some birds will start to mimic the act of talking quickly. Medium-sized birds tend to dig their talons or claws into the material on the garment worn by the individual holding the bird, sometimes damaging the clothing and even causing pain to the person holding the bird. Birds have the natural instinct to wrap their claws around objects, attempting to maintain their position on an unstable perch. This is why they will dig their claws into the person""s shoulder when there is any unexpected movement. Another problem arises when the bird relieves itself, which is quite often. The droppings of small to medium-sized birds are not excessively large and generally dry quickly without any noticeable odor but may stain or discolor clothing and it is very unsightly. It is not uncommon to have to change clothing after handling a pet bird.
A number of shoulder drapes with perches have been developed, most inclined to locate over one shoulder with some form of waste collecting receptacle to the rear. Although birds do tend to face forward most of the time, they also tend to be very mobile, turning often with no guarantee that they will turn to the front to relieve themselves to the rear.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,568 of Ronald E. Perry describes a shoulder draped bird perch which includes a shoulder conformable, covered base which is set on a person""s shoulder. The base covering is claw graspable and protects the person from claw-induced injury and soiling by bird droppings. Anti-slip surface cooperates to retain the perch on a person""s shoulder. This device covering only one shoulder, with no separate perch device, has only a claw graspable coarse covering that would be more inclined for use with larger birds with heavy talons that can do a lot of damage. It has no ornamental features desirable for entertaining and training small to medium-sized birds and could not be made of a variety of different brightly colored fabrics. This type of article would be more of a protective device for large birds than a garment worn for showing off and training small to medium birds, though without being secured to the body firmly it will not give the bird a stable feeling and may inadvertently move.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,803 of Tony Serro discloses a portable bird perch designed for carrying and displaying pet birds, from a Parakeet to a Peacock, on the shoulder of the user, in an easily adjusted and thereby comfortable manner, both for the bird and the user. The invention teaches of a radially curved support base, designed for riding upon the shoulder of the user, and configured to be affixed to the user via adjustable straps passed about the under arms of the user. This is another rigid device used to protect only one shoulder, requiring the bird to always face forward and could not be called an ornamental garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,921 of Karl T. van Vonno teaches of a shoulder mounted bird perch having a removable waste-collecting receptacle. This is a shoulder-mounted bird perch comprising a flexible shoulder cover, a perch assembly mounted upon the shoulder cover and a demountable waste receptacle also mounted on the shoulder cover to the rear of the perch assembly. This is another device to cover one shoulder, requiring the bird to face forward with the added feature that the droppings all fall the same distance from the perch no matter what the size of the bird. This device cannot be called an ornamental garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,081 of Jim A. Lewellen describes a protective cover assembly for supporting a bird on a wearer""s shoulder in such a manner that the wearer""s garments are not soiled by the bird. This article includes a plurality of plies and a bird perch which is sized and shaped to be securely mounted on the wearer""s shoulders. The cover can include a drape and arm cover that are releasably attached. This protector may be classified as a garment itself in that it covers both shoulders, but as described it must be pulled over the head and snapped together around the neck. Some people do not wish to pull garments over their head, messing their hair and thereafter risk removing a possibly bird-soiled garment over the head.
At least one of the panels is adapted to be fluid repellant and the other panel is adapted to be easily cleaned, and the panels are reasonably attached together. With this protective cover the droppings from the bird will easily slide off to the floor or furniture which may be an even greater problem than soiling one""s clothing. This type of garment can also stop any circulation of air in the area covered, causing the individual to perspire in the area covered. This protector offers no means of attachment of toys to entertain the birds.
There is as such a pressing need in the field of garment design for new shoulder worn device to provide a secure and stable mount for wearer""s owning birds. This new article has been designed with the unique features to show off and enhance the colors of the pet bird, while entertaining, training it to ride on the shoulder and going for walks, along with protecting the wearer""s clothing from being soiled by the droppings. This article allows that the bird may sit on a natural round wooden perch
The above-noted problems, and others, are overcome by the body perch garment of this invention which basically covers the front and back shoulder area of the wearer, opening at the front with any one of a number of conventional attachment means. Two wooden dowels, drilled in both ends allows ties to pass through to releasably attach the dowels on the apex of each shoulder of the so described garment. A plurality of dowels used for bird perches come in varying sizes for different sizes of birds, and different types of wood for lasting hardness are available. Additional removable dowels can be added to the front or rear of the garment forming a ladder, in the same disclosed manner further enhancing the garment, and remaining within the scope of this invention. The ties also provide a means whereby toys and other entertainment paraphernalia are attached to the garment. It is foreseen that some people will enjoy covering the complete front of their garment with toys, bells, mirrors, and buttons along with any other items the bird would play with or which they wish to display. These garments as in all garments will be made in varying sizes: small, medium and large.
While any suitable configuration of the garment for covering the shoulders will suffice, the preferred design will incorporate a back panel, covering the area midway down the back and outwardly just past the break in the shoulders with curved corners at the lower extremities. Two front panels, a left front panel and a right front panel are attached at the apex of the shoulders by the conventional method of sewing, and overlapping in the front as in any shirt or blouse type of garment with, but not limited to, a hook-loop type of attachment. With the hook-loop attachment slight adjustments may be made for the varying sizes of the wearer, while with buttons, snaps and other conventional means of attachment there are similar adjustment capabilities, but all will work for the closure of the two frontal panels of the unique garment. These frontal panels will cover the upper chest area of the wearer from the apex of the shoulders to approximately two-thirds of the way down the chest, depending upon the size of the wearer. The frontal panels will have a curved configuration at the lower extremities matching those on the rear panel. The neckline of the garment may have any number of styles, xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d neck, square neck, or a curved neckline, giving a variety in styles while staying in the intended scope of the patent. The material of the preferred embodiment of the garment would be, but not limited to, 100% cotton, whereby it would be easily laundered, and available in a wide variety of bright and unique colors and patterns. This type of material would absorb the moisture and the bright colors would conceal some of the droppings. The droppings of small birds are often a white substance that when dry can be brushed off easily. A nonsliding material as in, but not limited to, a soft cotton flannel, will be used for the backing of all of the panels of the garment to prevent slipping with the movement of the bird. Holes in the apex area of the shoulders, with or without grommets will allow that ties be fed through to attach the wooden perches to the shoulders with a wide variety of colorful ties, with the preferred embodiment being a natural leather cured with vegetable tannin. The perches can be made from a wide variety of doweling materials, with the best being of oak. Birds have a tendency to chew on things, which wears down the natural growth from the ends of their beaks as in the fingernails on people, so a hard wood will last longer. Twigs of a similar size, with or without the bark still on them, can be used to give a more natural style to the garment appearance. Apertures will be drilled at both ends of the wood perches to communicate therethrough so that the attaching ties can be inserted and fastened with a conventional knot. One or a plurality of perches may be used on one or both shoulders to accommodate the size of the bird and traverse between shoulders. These ties may also be connected across the back between the shoulders to give the garment further style and allow the bird something to hold onto when going between perches.
Still another use for the tie ends will be the attachment of toys and other paraphernalia for entertaining the bird and making the garment more fun to wear. The panels may be turned inside out and sewn on the edges in a conventional manner for assembly, or may be edged with a colorful bias tape, which is another conventional method of manufacturing garments. It must be noted that, like adding toys to the inside of a bird""s cage and adding pins to a funny hat, this garment is intended to be adorned in a number of ways by the wearer, but the adding of additional perches or like devices to the garment are included within the scope of this patent. Weights may be optionally added to the hem on both the front and back panels. This weight can be in the form of a chain, sand or bean bags, to be removed through a flap in the lining when the garment is being laundered. The weights in the garment have a greater importance as the size of the bird goes up, providing a lowered center of gravity for the garment and thus allowing the garment to stay in place while counterbalancing the weight and activity of the larger bird.
It is the object of this invention to create a garment whereby the wearer can transport varying sizes of pet birds in a relatively natural environment.
It is another object of this invention to create a device that protects the wearer""s clothing, both front and back, from damage by a pet bird""s droppings when transporting on the shoulder, or damage from the bird""s talons or claws.
It is still another object of the invention to create a garment whereby the pet bird can rest on a natural round wooden dowel or tree limb affixed at the apex of the shoulder.
It is still another object of the invention to create a garment with a removable perch that can be taken off when laundering the garment and may be replaced by one of a plurality of perches of different diameters to accommodate the grip of the bird using it.
It is still another object of the invention to create a garment that may be made of a variety of bright and colorful materials enhancing and showing off the color of the pet birds.
It is another object of the invention to create a garment that may be made in varying sizes while being able to adjust within each size to make the garment fit tightly in the shoulders, restricting movement in the area of the removable perches.
It is still another object of the invention to create a garment that may be adjustably weighted in the front, back, or in both the front and back to balance the weight of varying size of pet birds.
It is yet another object of this invention to create a garment that can be easily adorned with toys and other paraphernalia to entertain the pet bird and enhance the garment. The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.